OCR Text

New Braunfels Herald Zeitung (Newspaper) - October 18, 1983, New Braunfels, Texas
jflt
New
Braunfels
HIW Braunfels, Texas
Herald-Zeftuno
Vol. 92 - No. 207 14 Pages
TUESDAY
October 18,1983 25 cents
(USPS 377-880)DPS trooper Butler a 'no-show' in RockportBy DEBBIE DELOACH Staff writer
Trooper Robert Butler’s future in the Department of Public Safety took another setback Monday, when he did not report for work in Rockport.
Butler, who was transferred to Rockport from Comal County, was to appear before Capt. Charles Gunn, the district commander in Corpus Christi, at 8 a.m. Monday. He did not.
“That is correct. Robert Butler failed to show up in my office at the appropriated time on Monday,” Capt. Gunn said Tuesday morning.
A spokeswoman for the local DPS office and DPS General Counsel John West in Austin both said it was their understanding Butler did not go to Rockport. West also said DPS officials have declined any immediate comment on possible future action against Butler.
The state Attorney General’s Office received a memo Monday from Harris Butler, the trooper’s attorney, indicating that Robert Butler will not show in Rockport until the matter comes to court again.
The first time around, 207th District Court Judge Robert Pfeuffer heard five days of testimony before denying an injunction to block the Rockport transfer on Oct. ll. However, the injunction ruling did not void Butler’s
lawsuit against DPS Sgt. James Holder, DPS Director Col. James Adams and DPS, which could ultimately result in a jury trial, if requested.
Butler’s claim continues to be his transfer was “punitive in nature” for reporting violations of law in good faith to appropriate law enforcement officials. DPS countered, labeling the transfer "for the good of the service.”
Following his ruling on the in
junction matter, Pfeuffer filed his findings of fact and conclusions of law in the usual manner. He concluded that Butler, the plaintiff, had failed to meet his burden to show that the transfer was ordered because of Butler's exercise of any rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the State of Texas.
Butler's attorney filed a motion for “Plaintiff’s Request for Amended and Additional Findings and Conclusions"
here Monday. Court Administrator Martin Allen said Tuesday, “This is the first one of these I’ve ever seen come through this office.
“When the judge made his ruling, he entered his findings and conclusions of law, which basically detail the reasons behind his ruling,” Allen said. “What Butler's motion is asking is that the judge add certain points
See BUTLER, Fag* M
Man killed in accident at State Fair midway
DALLAS (AP) — A car on a popular spinning midway ride broke loose, hung precariously for five or six revolutions and plummeted more than 50 feet into a crowd of people at the State Fair of Texas, killing one man, seriously injuring two others and sending five other people to hospitals.
Bob Halford, assistant general manager of the fair, said the dead man and the two seriously injured men were in the five-passenger car when it separated from the ride, flew about 50 feet and fell between another ride and a root beer stand about
8:05 p.m. Monday.
Robert Breckenridge, a field agent for the Dallas County Medical examiner s office, said a 19-year-old man was pronounced dead at 9.14 p m at Parkland Hospital Claude McCain, night administrator at Parkland, identified the dead man as William Phillips of Allen, about 25 miles north of Dallas.
Marion T. Phillips, 23, a brother of the deceased, was reported in fair condition this morning and Michael Olivam, 15. who recently moved from San Antonio, was
reported in good condition at Parkland Halford said the three had attended the fair together Five other people were sent to Dallas hospitals with lesser injuries and fair officials said nine other people were treated at first aid stations for accident-related ailments ranging from possible ankle and neck injuries to upset stomachs Mary Brown. 19. of Dallas was working at a cotton candy stand on the midway ofSee FAIR. Page 14
Five stabbed in Sunday incidentBy DY ANNE FRY Staff writer
Five people received stab wouods in a Sunday morning incident at the Villa Serena housing prefect. Three are still at McKenna Memorial Hospital. A sixth person was released today, after being treated for heart problems. Police arrested one man. but charges have dropped.
A police spokesman said that Reynaldo Serna, who was released Tuesday morning from McKenna's intensive care unit, did not want to press charges in what was
apparently a family quarrel The multiple stabbing occurred at approximately 2 30 a m Sunday, outside Serna s home at 106 Morales Court. The 30-year-old man received stab wounds in the abdomen and near the nb cage, and was taken by ambulance to McKenna
Also injured were Serna's wife Nettie, his father Roberto Serna; and two other people, Ricardo Cantu of 460 Central and Stella Bueno of Seguin.
Police said Nettie Serna had several cuts on the left forearm, and was also transported by ambulance Bueno was stabbed in the left side, and was admitted to
McKenna later that day Both women were still there Tuesda> morning, rated in satisfactory condition. Roberto Serna was treated and released at the emergency room Sunday.
Cantu had lacerations to the face and arm. but was apparently not seriously injured. The sixth “victim,” 57-year-old I ai pc Serna, suffered hypertension and shortness of breath after the incident, according to an Emergency Medical Service report The ambulance didn’t pick her up. but she was later admitted to the hospital, and remained there until Tuesday morning,
In Kissinger's shadow
McFarlane replaces Clark as national security adviser
WASHINGTON (AP) - Robert C. McFarlane is taking over the White House national security adviser's job made famous by Henry A. Kissinger, but McFarlane says he won’t use it as a pulpit for promoting his own views with President Reagan.
“My role now is not to be an advocate, but to be a coordinator," McFarlane said Monday after he was appointed to succeed William P. Clark, who is leaving to head the Interior Department. "I intend to do that, and I don’t expect any difficulty.”
The appointment of McFarlane, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and foreign policy professional who worked in the Nixon and Ford administrations, (ksappomted hardliners and left in doubt the plans of U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, who was passed over for the national security adviser’s poet.
In a statement from her office, Mrs. Kirkpatrick said, “I am committed to remaining at the United Nations through the 38th session of the General Assembly.” Its session probably will end around Christmas, and she reportedly is eager to return to Washington.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick, offering no words of congratulations to McFarlane. said "the president has the right to appoint anyone to any position in the administration, and, as always, I support the president’s decision.” Reagan said she will remain at the United Nations. “As far as I know she’s happy,” the president said. “I think that she has done so much for this country. ”
Conservatives had argued that the blunt-spoken Mrs. Kirkpatrick carried more clout than McFarlane and would do a better job in presenting the case for higher deifense
spending, being tough with the Soviet Union and taking a hard-line approach in Central America.
In his new job, McFarlane is responsible for keeping the president abreast of foreign policy developments and summarizing for him frequently conflicting options and advice from the State Department, Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency and other national security offices.
While saying he has worked for years with Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and CIA Director William Casey, McFarlane said, “surely there are disagreements on a given issue. My role now is not to be an advocate but to be a coordinator.”
At a briefing for reporters, McFarlane said, ”1 think more than many of you allow, Cabinet government has been the name of the game in national security affairs I think
that if the point of your question is do I intend to seek to promote a personal point of view or rn any other way to establish some confrontational status with the secretary of state, of course not.”
Howard Phillips, head of the Consenative Caucus, called McFarlane s appointment “a nail in the coffin of conservative hopes for influence in the Reagan administration
“The key thing is that conservatives are out of the loop in terms of having any significant influence on policy,’' said Phillips
Richard Viguerie, publisher of the Conservative Digest, said that Clark, a longtime Reagan confidant, had bern "a balance, a counterpressure against George Shultz and moderates at the State Department Now there will be no counterpreaaure.
Inside
Today's Weather
This afternoon will be partly sunny and warm, with a 40 percent chance of thundershowers persisting through Wednesday. Winds will be from the southeast at 10-15 miles per hour today. Considerable late-night and early morning cloudiness is expected, with skies to become partly cloudy by Wednesday afternoon. Winds tonight and Wednesday will ba from the southeast at HO mph. Sunset today will bt at 8:58 p.m., and sunrise Wednesday at 7:35 •.rn,
Orgy of Offense
The Washington-Green Bay game Monday night was not for defensive purists. But anyone who loves wide football had to like the 48-47 which set a record for
. on a Monday Night
lama. Tho Packers prevailed when reliable Mark Moeeiey missed a 38-yard field goal aa time ran out. More kl Sports.
Selling Secrets
A California man has admitted to sold secrets of weapons crucial to America’s defense to the Russians. The damage to U.S. security is incalculable, officials have said Boe Papas
Cloots 'Fair'
Injured in a freak accident Oct. 6, New Braunfels High School senior Julie Cloots has been listed in critical condition ever since. But her condition has been upgraded to fair, her mother said Tuesday See Page I.
CLASSIFIED............11 13
COMICS..............10.11
CROSSWORD............11
DEAR ABBY...............2
DEATHS..................2
HOROSCOPE.............11
OPINIONS.......... 4
SPORTS................BJ
STOCKS..................3
TV LISTINGS.............11
WEATHER................2
CISD won't get refund from Appraisal District
Directors of the Comal County Appraisal District reached a consensus Monday, but not the me the Comal ISO would probably have preferred.
If the State Property Tax Board’s legal counsel approves it, Chief Appraiser Glenn Brocks will refigure the voting percentages for next month s election of directors, using the IMI tax roll for the City of New Braunfels and New Braunfels ISO; and the 1M2 tax roll for Comal County, the Comal !SD, Garden Ridge and other entities.
That’s how Brocks calculated each government’s share of the appraisal district’s 1183 budget, which is just about paid up But when it came to apportioning votes (which are also divided up according to each government’s tax levy), Brocks and the County Clerk’s office used the latest figures available For the county, CISD and other governments, that meant 1M2 taxes levied last fall. For the city and NBISD, it was IMI taxes, levied in the spring.
The result? CISD ended up with 43 percent of the budget and only 38 percent of the vote, because the city and NBISD levied mere taxes in 1883 than in IMI.
My research convinces me that you can’t do that,” director Charles lewis told Brocks Other directors agreed he was probably right But CISD may disagree with the board’s conclusion that it was the vote totals, not the budget percentages, which needed to be adjusted As CISD business manager Hugo Nowotny put it Saturday, “I don’t care about a few votes But if we can save some money ...”
Superintendent Edgar Willhelm was thinking along the same lines on Oct. 8, when he sent Brocks a letter advising him of the discrepancy Willhelm estimated CISD was overcharged more than $18,800 this year, and asked Brocks to send the money back The problem stems from the City-NBISD tax office’s odd collection year, which has lately become a point of controversy in the county The city and NBISD aet their tax rates in the spring, based an tax rolls for the previous year. Taxes are billed and collected in the late spring end early summer. Every other government in the
See APPRAISAL, Page 14
c.*»lC«<«T
jk\
COMMUNITY FUNI
Com fund officials hope to reach
goal this month
The Comal County Community Fund HSI drive tt getting doser lo its 1100,000 goal.
As of Tuesday morning, a balance of I84J7M8 was reported by Comfund secretary Susanaa Herbelin Contributions from two major industries late Friday afternoon put Conal County's own version of the United Way over Rn IM JOO mark
Jesse Garcia, 1083 drive chairman, wen aa enthused last Friday that to named Oct. SI ”80 the day we plan on wrapping up this drive.” Belli Gercia end Herbelin said that’s the earliest wrap up date they could remember.
The Od. 31 date also brought back a moment is the life of Alan Orr, and an example af hew Comfund’s support of the Boy Scouts of America indirectly helped save his life.
A rotary saw at the Smokehouse Ice Plant nearly took Orr’s left arm off last Halloween. From his six years of scouting, he knew wharf Ii find the pressure points that would cut down Rn blood flow
Even though he lost 9 pints of blood on tho wny to the hospital, Orr's scout training probably saved his life Five hours of surgery saved hie ann, too.
On Fab. 8.1183. Alan received the Eagle front award, the highest a Boy Scout can go. “He WM up for U in 1082, but he had to wait until ha can* wear a Rift for the a word ceremony,” Ilia fnRnr, Robert Orr, recoiled. Orr is president of Trona Commerce Bank bi New Braunfels.
gee CONTUND, Pi* ll
Ernesto Torres, a private with the Texas State Guard, uses a geiger counter to locate radioactive isotopes Sunday at the in ter section of FM 725 and IH 35. It was part of the local guard s driil involving a mock
crash involving a truck carrying radioactive materials. The isotope shown is weak and used for testing equipment, Guard officials said.
Radioactive drill
Staff photo by John \ Sorttei
;